Debates on verdicts in liberal democracy make judiciary walk tightrope of independence: SC

The Supreme Court today observed that discussions, debates and criticism of verdicts in the age of technology, open society and liberal democracy make the judiciary walk the "tightrope of independence".

A bench of justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan, in their separate but concurring verdicts, said that the chief justice of India is the 'master of roster' and has the "prerogative" to allocate cases to different benches.

It observed that the sole strength of the judiciary lay in public confidence and trust.

Justice Sikri said it has become a "regular feature" that even laymen, who are constitutionally illiterate, enter into debate and evaluate the outcome of cases influenced by their emotions, rather than legal or constitutional principles.

"We live in an age of accountability. What is required of judges is changing. Judgements of the courts are widely discussed, debated and even criticised. In this age of technology, open society and liberal democracy coupled with varied nature of cases raising complex issues which are decided by the Courts, including 'hard cases', any outcome whereof may be susceptible to criticism as both views may appear to be equally strong," he said.

"In that sense, judiciary walks the tightrope of independence," Justice Sikri said while highlighting that the judiciary discharges one of the most important functions that is the administration of justice.

"Our Constitution guarantees free speech, fair trials, personal freedom, personal privacy, equal treatment under the law, human dignity and liberal democratic values," he said.

"This bundle of non-negotiable rights and freedoms has to be protected by the judiciary. For this reason, independence of judiciary is treated as one of the basic features of the Constitution," Justice Sikri said.

He said that the Constitution makers had reposed great trust in judiciary by assigning it the powers of judicial review of not only the administrative acts of the government or the executive but even the legislative acts.

"Here, we may point out four major aspects of judicial status or performance, which are: independence; impartiality; fairness; and competence," he said, adding, "The judiciary even without the sword or the purse, remains the guardian of the Constitution."